Passwords

Passwords are like girlfriends (or boyfriends!) - you shouldn't share them with other people, and you should get a new one every now and again.

See ChoosingPasswords for information on creating safe, random passwords.

Basic Machine Security:

• Don't use protocols such as telnet or ftp between machines on an untrusted network such as the internet - these send usernames and passwords around in clear text. Anonymous ftp is OK - you don't give away your details. Instead look into ssh(1) (Secure Shell). This encrypts all data between the machines.
• Don't run unnecessary services (called "daemons" in UNIX) that allow internet connections - some distributions turn these on by default. Examples are mail or news servers and printer daemon (lpd). If you want to see a list of the daemons running on your machine, at a command prompt type:
  netstat -aAinet
  The lines that say "LISTEN" means a daemon is waiting for connections on the specified port.

Application / General Encryption

GNU Privacy Guard (GPG) is an encryption program compatible with Pretty Good Privacy (PGP). It uses public-key cryptography, and many email clients have hooks that allow you to fairly easily encrypt and "sign" email. See our GPG/PGPNotes page.

Wireless Network Security:

See WirelessNetworkSecurityNotes